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Press

The Jerusalem Report: Making Every Dollar Count

by Jacob Levine, The Jerusalem Report

Monday, July 13, 2009

In these days of economic downturn, donors to charities want to know that their donations are going to those who need them the most, and that every dollar they give actually gets to the people that need them.


In both of these dimensions, Yad Eliezer is a model charity. Since Hadassa Weisel founded a grass-roots organization to help out neighbors who didn’t have enough to eat, Yad Eliezer has grown to distribute thousands of packages of food every week to Israel’s neediest. And the organization keeps its overhead down with the help of industrious volunteers, whether they be seminary students who help pack or volunteer staffers who conduct Yad Eliezer’s fundraising from their own homes in the US, England, Australia and Canada, allowing the organization to run without need for rented office space.


With the help of these volunteers, Yad Eliezer keeps its overhead down to an incredible 4% or less of its funds, allowing more money to go towards food baskets and other activities around the country. This administrative thrift, along with meticulously transparent bookkeeping, earned Yad Eliezer the highest four star rating of US charity assessor Charity Star Navigator for five years running, a feat achieved by less than four percent of the charities reviewed.


A perhaps more telling indicator of the way Yad Eliezer does business is a vignette related to this reporter by Y., himself a Yad Eliezer volunteer who modestly refused to allow his name to appear in print.


Y. said that two officials from the Israel Tax Authority spent two days poring over Yad Eliezer’s books some months ago. The auditors were so impressed that they not only gave Yad Eliezer a clean sheet but signed up for their own donation.


Yad Eliezer takes its management so seriously because so many are dependant on its services, while still others are consigned to the waiting list due to lack of funds. The flagship enterprise is distributing food to Israel’s hungriest, especially to those who can’t make it out of their homes to a soup kitchen. The “meals on wheels” program distributes thousands of packages, and before the holidays the activity is intensified, with the distribution of tons of chickens, thousands of bottles of wine, and other holiday essentials.


The organization extends its helping hand to Israelis of all backgrounds, regardless of religious or any other affiliation. Its branches are located across Israel, from Eilat in the south to Safed in the north.


Last December, Yad Eliezer geared up for a unique challenge. As Gaza rockets rained down on Israel’s southern cities, Yad Eliezer made a special effort to support the troops who surged to the frontlines. Organizing within 24 hours of the outbreak of war, Yad Eliezer mobilized its cadre of volunteers to prepare some 8,500 CARE packages for the soldiers on the front. More help came from friends abroad, with community leaders such as Rabbi Sam Klibinoff of Atlantic Beach organizing loads of warm clothing and other donations to show support for Israel’s bravest.


Yad Eliezer’s day to day activities may be more prosaic, but no less crucial. A program run with a number of municipalities matches thousands of Big Brothers and Sisters with at-risk children for mentoring three times a week. In addition to providing much needed educational support, these mentors develop a relationship with children whose parents are often barely functioning – if they are involved in their children’s lives at all. While there are a number of organizations which run such programs, Yad Eliezer has gained the trust of more municipalities across the country, due to its efficiency and transparency, growing into the biggest and best provider of such services.


Yad Eliezer’s emergency fund provides millions of dollars for special cases of need, whether to fix roofs or provide heaters during the cold winter months, or provide support for rare medical treatments. Of course, the list of requests for such services is very high, and with today’s hard economic times, the list keeps growing.


A special fund provides 2,000 infants whose mothers are too malnourished to nurse with a formula substitute, ensuring these children will enjoy proper physical and mental development.


Together with a government grant, Yad Eliezer runs free youth dental clinics (with heavily subsidized service for poor adults), giving access to needed dental care to those who would otherwise never be able to afford it.


Yad Eliezer runs its very own wedding hall which hosts poor couples on a heavily subsidized basis. Generous newlyweds can “adopt a wedding” through Yad Eliezer, with a portion of their wedding gifts funding an entire wedding for those less privileged.


Others choose to start off their simcha with an activity of giving to the needy, such as spending an hour or two helping to pack food at the warehouse. Each box is labeled not with the Yad Eliezer name but with the logo of a local bakery, in order to spare the recipients the shame of being identified as needy. Indeed it is just these sort of special touches that are the hallmark of Yad Eliezer, an organization where giving is a hands-on activity.

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